Wintec students make short film centering on Hamilton’s Refugee Services

A short film made by Wintec students will be shown next month at the national refugee resettlement forum in Wellington – and in refugee camps around the world.

Rachel O’Connor, director of Hamilton Refugee Services, said they had thought about making a film to show to Government organisations and community groups before but didn’t have the money to pay professional film makers.

“We would never be able to afford it as a not for profit organisation,” she said.

Wintec third year moving image students made three short films centring on different aspects of Hamilton’s Refugee Services.

One was a visual guide to Hamilton and its housing and facilities to give refugees an idea of where they might move to. New Zealand Immigration officials will show it in refugee camps worldwide.

Ms O’Connor said the average refugee spends 18 years in a refugee camp and many of them have little understanding of the world outside the camp.

The other films focus on the work Refugee Services do getting refugees settled and into employment.

Getting refugees into employment is a challenge because often their qualifications or work experience aren’t accepted in New Zealand, but Rachel O’Connor said that hiring a refugee has unique benefits.

“Some international companies have really found a benefit in having a multilingual [person] on their team,” she said.

The films will be shown at the Migrant Centre in Claudelands to the people who participated in them and their families, during World Refugee Week from June 15-21.

Around 80-90 refugees will move to Hamilton this year, with most coming from Burma and Columbia.
There are 1 million people in the world with UN refugee status and 34 million asylum seekers.